It is well known that mirrors have been used for many applications. These applications include, but not limited to, safety and easier viewing, seasonal lighting, decoration, arts, entertainment, personal grooming, to name a few. Some mirrors have a polished surface, while other use glass or similar material with a coating of some reflective material, such as, for example, thin layers of a metallic silver material. More recently a new inventive mirror has appeared in the market which uses a thin foil with a reflective coating. These thin foil mirrors are light weight and do not shatter like glass. These thin foil mirrors are finding new applications, such as, for example, in dance studios, ceiling mirrors, wall mirrors, personal grooming mirrors, to name a few.
U.S. Design Pat. No. D545,067 (James Vernon Mischel, Jr.), the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference, discloses a backlit mirror.
U.S. Design Pat. No. D545,574 (James Vernon Mischel, Jr.), the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference, discloses a backlit mirror.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,997,149 (Chia-Wu Chu), the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference, discloses a reversible, backlit grooming mirror has a planar mirror and a concave mirror mounted back-to-back in a reflector unit in parallel relation, with a space between the mirrors. The reflector unit is mounted for rotation in a mirror frame between a first position presenting the planar mirror to a user and a second position presenting the concave mirror to the user. A light source such as a halogen lamp is disposed in the space between the mirrors. A switch responsive to rotation of the reflector unit terminates electrical power to the lamp unless the reflector unit occupies a position in which one of the mirrors is in an operative position before the user.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,880,952 (Chris Kiraly, et al.), the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference, discloses a compact, energy-efficient extensible illumination source combines the reliability advantages of light emitting diodes (LEDs) with the brightness of conventional lighting. High reliability of the LEDs provides trouble-free operation over a long hour lifetime. This high-output light source can be used in direct lighting applications or for backlighting for translucent materials. The illumination source includes LED printed wire board segments that may be configured to form a light line of any length. The segments are mounted on a inner mounting base which also serves as a first stage heat sink for the LEDs. The illumination source includes a linear mirror for reflecting radiant energy away from the LEDs to produce a uniform linear illumination pattern. A window provides mechanical protection for the LEDs and may be used for diffusing or filtering light from the LEDs. An integral base in contact with the inner mounting base also serves as a heat sink and provides structural support for the illumination source. The integral base further includes channels and cavities for cooling the illumination source and for housing power cables.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,202,613 (Frederick M. Morgan, et al.), the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference, discloses lighting units of a variety of types and configurations, including linear lighting units suitable for lighting large spaces, such as building exteriors and interiors. Also provided in this invention are methods and systems for powering lighting units, controlling lighting units, authoring displays for lighting units, and addressing control data for lighting units.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,303,309 (Chen H. Wu, et al.), the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference, discloses a backlit sign with an LED module, with a housing that includes a top wall having a first length, a bottom wall having a second length, and a pair of opposing sidewalls each having a third length, wherein at least a portion of one of the sidewalls is translucent. One or more LED modules are mounted to the top wall and include a plurality of LEDs for producing light. The first, second and third lengths are selected to maximize illumination of the sidewalls by the produced light, and to minimize a width and weight of the sign. A mirror can be used to increase the reflectivity of the bottom wall.
U.S. Patent Publication No. 20060007701 (Volker Schoellmann, et al.), the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference, discloses a display device is described, which comprises a movable element (17) and selection means (15, 16) for locally bringing the movable element into contact with a selected one of two light guides (11, 12), arranged on either sides of the movable element. This provides an essentially symmetric display device, with one light guide on each side of the movable element. The display can display information in two directions, and the selection means can be controlled in a suitable way to activate selected portions of the guides. The invention can be used to provide a bi-directional display.
U.S. Patent Publication No. 20070195533 (Klaus Herbert Gunter Wenger), the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference, discloses a foil including optically refractive pyramidal elements, which each have a triangular base. The bases of adjacent elements are turned 180 degrees relative to each other. The foil has optically refractive characteristics upon incidence of electromagnetic waves thereon, which characteristics render the foil suitable for imparting a desired pattern, possibly in a desired direction, to the exiting waves. The pattern may be a uniform pattern, for example, so as to impart a uniform or diffuse light to electromagnetic waves, for example visible light, from a concentrated light source.
U.S. Patent Publication No. 20070291498 (Alexander Covasala, et al.), the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference, discloses an invention that relates to an electro-luminescent light element, and in particular to a foil-shaped light element with a light emitting surface (34) for emitting light from a light pigment layer (16) arranged on a carrier (12). According to the invention the light element (10) is provided with an electrically conductive cover (30).
U.S. Patent Publication No. 20080170309 (Jacek Helenowski), the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference, discloses a mirrored element (101) includes a first section (201) that is translucent when a backlight (301) is on and mirrored when the backlight is off (301). A second section (203) provides a mirrored surface when the backlight (301) is on and when the backlight (301) is off. The mirrored element (101) may optionally be provided with an enclosure (103). A baking process may be utilized to provide the second section (203) of the mirrored element (101).
Therefore there is a need for improvement in a foil mirror and in particular in a foil mirror with at least one back light.
Furthermore, this invention improves on the deficiencies of the prior art and provides an inventive foil mirror with at least one back light.